So Like This Is News Either

Pure Nerd

60 % Nerd, 26% Geek, 4% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 30% on nerdiness
You scored higher than 50% on geekosity
You scored higher than 0% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on Ok Cupid

So Like This is News?

Yah I knew Seymor Cray (and Neil Lincoln too). So what.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation 1968

Ah, the summer I broke my elbow. The water shutoff valve cover that my front tire got caught on is right here:



A compound break that split the elbow. I went over the handlebars of my bicycle at good speed and didn't land quite right. First one the Ortho Surgeon had ever seen. He saw two more before he released me from the hospital and those both involved motorcycles.

I was in traction for two weeks and was the oldest member of pediatrics ward. Got to stay up late and watch both Presidential Conventions. I also grew two inches.

When I went back at Christmas to have the screws removed I was too old for the Ped Ward and ended up with more interesting people.

Anime, What Anime?

Spent the morning and part of the afternoon at JAFAX with my darling young son.

We were costumed as ordinary people, not cosplayers, but there were plenty of cases of inappropriately placed crepe hair, spray painted aluminum foil, and duct tape to go around.

Other people's pictures can be found here, here, and here. I have checked them and I do not appear in any of the pictures that were taken near me.

A fun time was had by all.

Its Been A Year

One year ago our White West Highland Terrier ("Scottie") died from Sertoli Cell Cancer at the age of 16.

This was a recurrence of the cancer that he had back when he was nine, but that time we were lucky and caught it in time. The first time around the tumor looked like he regrew his testicles, so it was pretty obvious that something was happening. The tumor caused his body to secrete hormones that made him act very lethargic. After the tumor was removed, he acted more like a puppy.

This time the tumor was in the more typical place, attached to the intestine and so hidden from sight. We noticed that he was slowing down, but then too he had arthritis in his hips and had a hard time climbing stairs. We should have had a clue when the vet noted that his weight looked better at his checkup in April, but then she wasn't his normal vet and would not have known what to expect. By the time he died, he lost two thirds of his weight from not eating. The tumor had grown to the size of a tennis ball and was blocking his intestines.

In his youth, he would occasionally dig his way out of the yard and go visiting around the neighborhood. As a terrier he would leave "presents" on the back porch and we would dutifully bury the mice and mole carcasses. One time a baby rabbit made the mistake of wandering into his yard and we got to bury rabbit pieces. He kept watch over the neighborhood and more than once convinced someone that it was not a good place to be rattling door knobs looking for an open door.

The pictures below are from when he was just a wee one and in the days before he died.

We miss you, dear friend.

And Another One Gone?

Last week I found another name from my youth in the Obits. This is becoming too common.

Mike was a friend of mine back in elementary school who moved away after fifth grade. We lost touch with each other although I heard small bits about him through our fifth grade teacher Miss M.

I tried to find him after I graduated from college and ended up in the same city, but none of the leads proved real.

I missed the funeral because I was out of town, so even now I'm not sure if the person who died is my friend from Elmhust.

The Friday Night: Dinner and a Movie Concept

My wife runs a business Monday through Friday which leaves her with little contact where she can have meaningful conversation. Since our children are all old enough to look after themselves, every Friday is scheduled as Mom and Dad time where we eat out at our normal restaurant and then take in a movie at the world's first cineplex.

We have a standing reservation at 6:45 which gives us plenty of time to eat and make the movie without rushing. The restaurant is a little family operation with a couple dozen tables and a bar. We know what to expect and the wait staff knows us well enough.

Of course we don't always take in a movie and we don't always go out to eat. That all depends on what else is scheduled (like taking kids to college or picking them up). Bookstores are a pleasent substitute for a movie.

South Park Image

By now everyone knows about the Flash program to draw South Park characters.

The following is myself in South Park attire



Yeh, its been a couple of months since my last haircut.

Bride and Prejudice Revisited

I received the following from my brother over the weekend. (it was forwarded through my daughters at college.)

> Partly thanks to your enthusiastic "review", we went to see it last
> night with Mom and Dad. What a great movie! We just about died when
> they did the Bollywood production number on the beach in LA, and the
> twist on the familiar plot of "Pride and Prejudice" was fascinating.

> When we left, two college girls behind us were dancing as they made
> their way out, so we were thinking of you two.

Two Friends Gone

One of my boyhood friends died on Easter Sunday after a year of living with cancer. I met Scott in Jr Hi and performed with him (or near him) through High School. He brightened all of the lives he touched, was a clear baritone and a charismatic actor. He will be sorely missed by his family and those around him.

This week I also learned of the death of another boyhood friend last summer in an auto accident. Tom was my backyard neighbor and closest friend from fourth grade through High School. We lost touch during our college years (I moved away) and met again at our 25th reunion. No one recognized him as he was twice the man he was in High School and looked like Kenny Rodgers. I too had gone from unbelievably skinny to more normal build, so neither of us recognized each other. I have never seen such joy for someone to be back among friends.

You expect to lose some friends from car accidents when you are in your twenties and you don’t expect everyone to live forever, but it still hurts when they are gone.

The Missing Blog Roll

I know its not there. When I get some spare time I will be transferring it over from my static web page to BlogRolling. It will get there when it gets there.

The Bollywood Musical: Bride and Prejudice

We went to see it last night, my wife for the second time and my son and I for our first. Wow. This is definitely a must-purchase when it comes out in DVD.

Bride and Prejudice is a musical in the Bollywood tradition, but that only speaks to the use of color. People break into song or dance at times, but I didn’t find the songs as intrusive as in the great Hollywood musicals from the 40’s.

As I said in my earlier post, this presentation is (in many ways) a tribute to the A&E rendition from 1996.

Here’s where I stand on that. Back in 1996 when the mini-series first played on A&E, we recorded it on VHS. Over the next several years, my daughters would hold weekend marathons playing the mini-series from end-to-end. They must have done this at least 20 weekends out of every year, possibly more often. The result is that we all know the story, my son (and our Quaker parakeets) could hum the theme song, and the tapes wore out.

When we bought our DVD player one of the first movies we purchased was the full-frame $70 DVD of Pride and Prejudice. That DVD got played as often as the video tapes with the advantage that the picture was clearer and it was easier to pause the show for dinner.

When the $30 wide-screen version came out in 2001, we got a second copy so that one (or both) could be away at college.

Needless to say I know the story as presented by A&E.

No one can beat Colin Firth in his portrayal of Darcy, but the Wickham presented in this film is much more of a rake and the Bingley is less gee-wiz and more sexy. But then you have seen the actor playing Bingley when he plays Sayid in “Lost”. The Bakshi(Bennet) parents are just as much fun as always, but each in their own way.

Time and again scenes echo the settings found in the A&E version. The sisters talking to each other while looking in a mirror, the settings around the table at dinner, the father in his study . . .

Mr Kholi(Collins) is just as much of a boor, but is played sort of as a cross between Alan Rickman’s character in Galaxy Quest and Tom Green. This Mister Kholi is not a clergyman, but an accountant in LA who lives in The Valley. He is back in India looking for a wife because all of the Indian girls in the US are too independent. One memorable quote from Mr Kholi is “No life without wife.”

The settings range from interior and sea side part of India, to the suburbs of London, to Los Angeles. Ah but the musical number in LA (with a Bollywood twist) is something to behold.

Even though we all know how the story turns out, it plays well.

Make sure you stay through the credits to see the “Out Takes”. I could be wrong, but I’m sure that in one of them I saw Harvey Weinstein of Miramax talking on a cell phone then get dragged into a dance by the extras.

We all enjoyed it and my daughters went to see it a second time at a theater near their school. I would recommend it even if it sounds like a “chick flick.”

I'm Ba_cardi 151?

The following test was brought to my attention by the Irascible Ith.

Ba_cardi 151

Congratulations!
You're 134 proof, with specific scores in beer (80), wine (66), and liquor (130).
All right. No more messing around. Your knowledge of alcohol is so high that you have drinking and getting plastered down to a science. Sure, you could get wasted drinking beer, but who needs all those trips to the bathroom? You head straight for the bar and pick up that which is most efficient.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender

You scored higher than 57% on proof
You scored higher than 99% on beer index
You scored higher than 71% on wine index
You scored higher than 99% on liquor index

Link: The Alcohol Knowledge Test written by hoppersplit on Ok Cupid

What A Drag It Is Getting Old

So I've reached a certain age where my doctor insisted that I get a Colonoscopy and the knee I blew out pushing a car out of a snow drift back in 1970 is starting to act up again. Now my eye doctor tells me that he needs to look for yellowing of the cornea to go with everything else.

What fun.

Bride & Prejudice

From the makers of Bend It Like Beckham comes a Bollywood retelling of the classic Jane Autin tale.

No thats not right. Its more like a Bollywood tribute to the A&E mini-series.

All of the best bits from the A&E series are replicated in an Indian setting, but as a musical. Darcy, Bingley, and Wickham are all there, but Bennett becomes Bakshi and Collins becomes Kholi.

My wife and daughters went to see it last Saturday afternoon and they said it was a hoot. This is going to be a must purchase when it comes out on DVD.

This movie came out last Fall in the UK and is just available here in limited release. We have it in only one theater in one of the four mega-plexes in town and IMDb doesn't list it as available here.

Anyway, I have been instructed to set aside monies to purchase the DVD when it comes out and I have been told that I will get to see it (as will my son) in the near future. I'll let you know my impressions next Saturday.

Tom Dilbert Tie

Tom wearing his Dilbert Flip Tie


This tie was a gift from my brother. It used to be availble from the Dilbert Store as item number #11000 priced at US$ 24.99.



Dilbert no longer sells products through that venue, but rather through Cafe Press. Unfortunately, the Dilbert Flip Tie is no longer offered.

About Me

• I was 6 foot 1 and weighed 125 pounds when I graduated from High School
• I fudged my weight on my draft registration and told them I weighed 134 pounds
• I was known as Strider for a time while in College. It’s an old joke instigated by one of my girlfriends. I used to be seen hiking through the snow wearing a floppy hat and carrying a walking staff ... the whole thing.
• I was also known as Cognac Tom due to my preference in adult beverages. (18 was legal drinking age back then)
• I managed to get my weight up to 155 pounds by College graduation by eating everything in sight
• I am now nearly twice the man I was when I graduated from High School
• Now I look more like Dilbert than Strider.
• You used to be able to find a picture of me by Googling “Tom Dilbert Tie”
• I have skied since I was 4 or 5 years old
• It took me forever to learn to swim
• Now normal lap swims are a ¼ mile and workouts are longer
• When I sing (which I don’t do much anymore), I sing Bass or Octavo
• My normal voice pitch is a couple half steps above Thurl Ravenscroft’s voice
• I do sound like a seven foot man who has been smoking cigarettes since childhood
• My voice would be lower if I smoked
• I don’t talk about my work other than to say that I am an Engineer who works with Computers
• There are very few people who are interested in the kind of work I do, you are not one of them
• I used to tell people about what I do, but their eyes would roll up into their heads and their brains would leak out their ears
• It was not a pretty sight, so I don’t do it any more

Test

tap ... tap ... tap ....

Is this microphone on?